Flatbush

Flatbush is a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, founded in 1651 by Dutch settlers as Vlackebos (meaning "wooded plain"). Many of Flatbush's gentry supported the Tories during the American Revolutionary War, and Dutch merchant and farming families remained influential in Flatbush until it became a suburb of New York City in 1898. During the first half of the 20th century, Italians, the Irish, and Jews made up the majority of Flatbush's population, but they were replaced by a growing Caribbean population during the 1970s and 1980s. Many affluent residents moved out of the area as lower-income West Indian families moved into the neighborhood, and it became an urbanized ghetto. It was notorious for its high crime rate, drug problems, gang violence, and its run-down and abandoned buildings, and it was a major stronghold for the Hillside Posse, which ran the Homebrew Cafe. During the 2010s, Flatbush began to be gentrified due to its status as a historic area. In 2010, Flatbush had a population of 110,875 people.